Page 4 Daily Nebraskan FridaV APril 2 1982
Editorial
Delayed decision on admissions policy dangerous
Members of the NU Board of Regents are already
dragging their feet on an admissions policy. That could be
a dangerous mistake.
Saturday at the board's monthly meeting, the regents
postponed a decision on whether to adopt some sort of
admission policy at NU or keep the current "open admis
sions" plan. It was the second delay on such a decision. At
its February meeting, the board heard two different
admissions proposals with the intention of picking one, or
an alternate last week.
The regents delayed a decision because, of course, they
wanted more information. One would have thought
"more information" was what they gathered between
Feb. 20 and March 28. Their wait-and-see attitude could
endanger any admissions option because the very group it
is aimed at - high school students, principals and
counselors - may read it as a stall. The students may
believe that regents are not serious about steepening ad
missions requirements and in the process exclude them
selves from attending NU.
They would be wrong. It seems clear that some new
plan will be adopted.
One porposal for admissions was introduced by James
Moylan, the board's president from Omaha. Moylan
thinks NU should establish entrance standards according
to a high school student's class rank, grade average,
entrance test scores or some combination of these.
Another option was proposed by NU President Ronald
Roskens. He has suggested a plan, admittedly vague, re-
Free stamps give
incumbent an edge
It's always tough to be the underdog, but when it
comes to U.S. congressional campaigns it's nearly impos
sible. In Wednesday's Omaha World-Herald, candidate
Richard Fellman said the incumbent, 2nd District Con
gressman Hal Daub, is abusing franking privileges, which
allow congressmen to use the U.S. Mail for free. The prob
lem is that Daub isn't doing anything out of the ordinary.
Take the 1st District here in Lincoln as an example.
Every so often we all get a newsletter with "Doug
Bereuter Reports to Lancaster County" written across the
top in big, bold, black letters. It has lots of pictures of the
congressman. (He's very photogenic; you have to be in his
line of work.) He is usually shown smiling or empathizing
with constituents.
V) Matthew
r Millea
Although the ostensible reason for these mailings is to
inform the people, the congressman can't seem to resist
the urge for a little self-promotion. The last "Keeping in
Touch" I received from Bereuter proudly proclaimed his
98 percent voting record and concluded with "Best
Wishes, Doug; Member of Congress." (How wonderful to
be on such intimate terms with my elected representat
ive. It's almost enough to make me forget it was address
ed "Postal Patron.")
This kind of direct mail campaign is paid for by tax
payers regardless of what they think of Bereuter, Daub or
the rest. (It's interesting that senators don't engage in such
gratuitous informing of the constituents. Maybe that's be
cause they only have to run every sixth year, not every
second. I've noticed JUL Exon doing pretty much the
same thing on television, but he has a lot more clout than
these mere congressmen.) Candidate Fellman estimated
the cost to the government for seven Daub mailings since
August 1 at more than $250,000.
Privileges like free publicity for incumbents have
always been a part of the political game, but the candi
date who challenges a well-entrenched incumbent may
face newer and more formidable challenges. The rise of
political action committees has made campaigning a
matter of high finance.
One incumbent congressman, Dan Rostenkowski (D
111.), is so heavily backed that no one from either party
has ventured to oppose him. Rostenkowski is one of the
most powerful men in Congress because he is chairman of
the House Ways and Means Committee, which is the origin
of all revenue (meaning tax) bills. His position makes him
the friend of a lot of rich folks and discourages his blue
collar Chicago district from electing an opponent who
wouldn't have seniority or its attendant power. Similarly,
the oil companies have decided Hal Daub is the best
congressman money can buy, which makes it tough for
Democrats like Fellman to keep up.
None of this would matter much if people paid more
attention to what is going on. The average Citizen doesn't
have the time, energy or intelligence to keep up to date
and becomes the prey of the Madison Avenue candidates
who do so well under our system. Small wonder that a
man who was General Electric's corporate mascot is now
the President of the United States.
quiring high school students to complete at least tour
years of English, three years of math, three years of social
studies and two years of laboratory science before enter
ing NU.
Those who turned out at Saturday's meeting were, by
and large, critical of Moylan's plan. They argued that en
trance tests such as the ACT discriminate against ethnic
minorities and that low scores on the test would keep
twelfth-grade graduates out of the state university.
Roskens' proposal was also criticized, mostly by those
who want no admission plan at all. But the president's
plan makes sense and should be endorsed by the board
and then initiated - full speed ahead.
Roskens' admission plan is a good idea on several inter
related points. Requiring students to complete specified
courses in high school would better prepare them for
college. Countless thousands of freshman have entered the
university, this year and in the past, ill-prepared for uni
versity studies. By doing so they have put an unfair
burden on prepared students by requiring a slower class
pace and requiring more of a teacher's time and attention.
Additionally, any plan that may ease enrollment totals
and thereby save money has merit.
Rosken's plan can only be a step in the right direction
because it would adequately aquaint students with the
basic disciplines before they enter college. And it will pre
pare those who, after entering NU, enroll in colleges with
admissions standards of their own. At UNL there are
several. Among them are the School of Journalism, the
College of Architecture and College of Engineering and
Ml 1 1
lecnnoiogy.
The plan is not perfect; it has its kinks. What the
regents and company must do now is work out those
kinks before May 15, their next meeting. They must be
prepared to sell Roskens' admissions plan to the high
school principals, counselors and students across Nebra
ska. They must emphasize that college is not something
18-year-olds do to bide time, that students must be
equipped to pursue higher education.
They must make a strong and specific statement, and
most importantly, follow through on it. They ultimately
will be responsible to ensure that Sue Student from a
small-town high school completes four years of English, so
when she graduates she can come to the big state univer
sity. That will definitely take a lot of work.
And while the regents determine what courses high
schoolers should take and how to ensure they take them,
the regents must listen to critics of the plan and find ways
to allow "late bloomers" into NU, how to enroll non
traditional students who attended high school 20 years
ago, how to offer an education to verterans seeking
higher education and to professionals seeking a second
degree.
Admissions requirements are a good idea. But the
details must be solid before initiating a plan. On a decision
as important as admissions, the kinks can't be left to trial
and error.
Patti Gallagher
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TEDIOUS SELFRI6H?E0USNKS
Unholy alliances part of politics
I have a dream.
I dream that someday the United States will side with
the peasants in some civil war. I dream that we will be the
ones who will help the poor overthrow the rich, who will
talk about land reform and education and health facilities
for everyone and that when the Red Cross of Amnesty
f Richard
Cohen
International comes to count the bodies and take the
testimony of women raped, that our side won't be the
heavies.
For once, it would be nice if our side did not wear
gaudy military uniforms and hide their eyes behind dark
glasses. I would love it if our guys wore the suspenders
and the wide hats and slept at night in the countryside, in
stead of behind guarded walls of some villa with a wife
and a mistress and Mercedes Benz.
What I am saying, I suppose, is that I would like us
once to be on the side of history. It would have been nice
to have won in Vietnam and in China before that. It would
have been terrific to have been the Shah's enemy and the
friend of the people of Iran. It would have been great not
to have been the buddy of the Somoza family in
Nicaragua and the pal of every dictator who sends his
money to Switzerland and his children to American mili
tary schools. Maybe then things would have turned out
differently. Maybe then we would not be looking into the
faces of anti-American zealots like Khomeini.
It would have been wonderful if we were the country
the Sandinistas turned to when they started their revolut
ion in Nicaragua. Why not? We believe in democracy, in
equality, in freedom. This is the country that was formed
in a revolution and that to this day is so unremittingly
democratic that, at the Republican National Convention,
the 55-mile-per-hour speed limit was denounced as govern
ment oppression.
Even now you have to wonder why we have this argu
ment with Nicaragua. Why do we have to bolt in panic
from any country that calls itself Marxist or socialist? So
what if it is? China is communist and it is our new buddy.
Its chief enemies are other communist countries - the
Soviet Union and Vietnam. The Vietnamese, in turn, fight
the Cambodians and the Cambodians fight each other.
Communist cohesiveness exists only in American myth.
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